The Latest: Barge supporting Harvard Sailing Center sinking

March 9, 2018

Alando May, 7, shovels a path to the front door, while his grandmother, Virginia Slattery clears her driveway in Lewiston, Maine on Thursday, March 8, 2018. A nor'easter that's sweeping across the Northeast has dumped as much as 19 inches of snow and caused more than 20,000 power outages in Maine. (Andree Kehn /Sun Journal via AP)

BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on the recovery from a second powerful storm that rumbled through the Northeast (all times local):

7:10 p.m.

A barge that supports the Harvard Sailing Center is sinking.

The Boston Globe reports it began partially sinking into the Charles River during the powerful nor’easter. Firefighters are working to secure the building.

The two-story sailing center sits on top of a barge.

Harvard Athletics Director Bob Scalise says the center was compromised due to an apparent failure of the flotation device.

The center is used by the Crimson Sailing Academy at Harvard University to store boats and equipment. It also houses a classroom, locker rooms and a kitchenette.

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2 p.m.

Authorities say a man died in New Jersey after he drove his car around some traffic cones meant to warn motorists to stay away from a downed live wire.

Police in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, say it appears the vehicle hit the wire, which sparked a fire that engulfed the car at about 9 a.m. Thursday.

The victim’s name was not immediately made public.

The area received about 2 feet of snow during this week’s storm.

A police spokesman says the department doesn’t have the personnel to post an officer at every hazard, and in the case of a downed wire it blocks off the area and alerts the power company.

For the second time in less than a week, a storm rolled into the Northeast with wet, heavy snow Wednesday, grounding flights, closing schools and bringing another round of power outages to a corner of the country still in recovery. (March 7)

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1:10 p.m.

Electric utility Eversource says it could be several days before it can restore power to every home and business it serves that lost it during the latest winter storm to hit the Northeast.

Eversource has more than 3.5 million electric and natural gas customers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

The company said on Twitter on Thursday: “Please plan to be without power for multiple days as we work through this significant restoration.”

Eversource spokesman Mike Durand told WBZ-AM its challenges include fallen trees, poles and other debris, and in some cases rebuilding entire systems.

National Grid, which serves Massachusetts and Rhode Island, also is preparing customers for long waits to get their power back. The utility says it has more than 300 crews from 16 states and Canada working on the problem.

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12:30 p.m.

Police say an 88-year-old woman has been killed by a tree that fell and crushed her as she shoveled snow in the New York City suburbs.

Suffern Police Chief Clarke Osborn tells the Journal News that Barbara Suleski was injured around 5 p.m. Wednesday and died at a hospital.

Neighbors were trying to help her when police arrived. Live wires wrapped around the tree made the rescue more difficult.

Another large branch broke off a tree and fell near emergency workers along with wires.

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12:15 p.m.

A nor’easter that’s sweeping across the Northeast has dumped as much as 19 inches of snow and caused more than 20,000 power outages in Maine.

The National Weather Service reports that several York County communities were getting pummeled with wet, heavy snow. Meteorologist Tom Hawley said that as of 10 a.m. there were reports of 19 inches in Sanford, 16 inches in Saco and 14 inches in Berwick.

Central Maine Power, meanwhile, reported that the bulk of its power outages were in York County.

Together, CMP and Emera Maine reported more than 20,000 homes and businesses were in the dark.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage ordered state offices closed, and hundreds of schools and businesses were closed. Many morning flights were canceled at the airports in Portland and Bangor.

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11:40 a.m.

The late-season snowstorm that is dumping up to 3 feet of fluffy snow in the mountains of southern Vermont is being welcomed by skiers who are taking advantage of conditions more common in Colorado than at Eastern resorts.

By 9 a.m. Thursday, the Mount Snow ski area in Dover had received 31 inches of fluffy snow, and more is expected before the storm winds down later in the day.

Mount Snow Communications Manager Jamie Storrs says the heavy, wet snow last week provided a solid base and this storm should set the resort up for solid skiing through the middle of April.

Mark Broderick, from Rockville Center, New York, says it’s the biggest one-day snowfall he’s seen in the 21 years he’s skied at Mount Snow.

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11:10 a.m.

A tree limb weighed down by snow that snapped off and became wedged in a switch is the likely cause of a commuter train derailment in Massachusetts.

There were about 100 passengers on board but no one was hurt when the Boston-bound train derailed in Wilmington at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

A spokesman for Keolis Commuter Services, which runs the system for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, called it a “low-speed derailment.”

Tory Mazzola says it appears the train struck a tree branch that had come down during the storm, dragged it several hundred feet until it snapped and became wedged in the switch.

The National Weather Service reports that Wilmington got more than 10 inches of snow.

The derailment remains under investigation.

The MBTA reported multiple storm-related delays.

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10:05 a.m.

Ice-covered roadways and blowing snow have led to numerous accidents and some fatalities on interstates in southwest Ohio.

The state Highway Patrol says two people were killed in a chain reaction crash Thursday morning that shut down northbound Interstate 75 in Butler County’s West Chester Township, about 23 miles (37 kilometers) north of Cincinnati.

Accidents caused lane closures in the southbound lanes of the interstate, too.

Roads are being described Thursday morning as sheets of ice.

The Dayton Daily News reports there are closures of roads, freeway ramps and interstates throughout the region. The Highway Patrol says a passenger in a semi-trailer that collided with another semi early Thursday during whiteout conditions on I-75 has died. That accident occurred near Tipp City, 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Dayton

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9:25 a.m.

Authorities say a commuter train with more than 100 passengers derailed in Massachusetts during the latest winter storm to hit the region. No injuries have been reported.

A spokesman for Keolis Commuter Services, which runs the system for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, says the train headed to Boston derailed in Wilmington at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

The “very low-speed” derailment is under investigation to determine if it was weather-related.

The National Weather Service reports that Wilmington got more than 10 inches of snow.

The spokesman says crews had to clear about 30 fallen tree limbs from tracks as a result of the storm, and seven trains were damaged and repaired.

There are multiple storm-related delays on the MBTA’s commuter rail, light rail and bus lines.

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8:55 a.m.

Nearly 75,000 power outages in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley are being reported by various utilities. There also are thousands of outages in upstate New York.

Con Edison has about 6,500 customers who are still without power from last Friday’s nor’easter. They’re now expected to get their power back by 11 p.m. this Friday.

Snow totals vary wildly in the metropolitan New York City area. Some suburbs saw 2 feet of snow or more.

National Weather Service meteorologist Adrienne Leptich says the “big winner” is New Fairfield, Connecticut, with a whopping 26.8 inches.

New York City’s biggest total was 4.7 inches, recorded in Little Neck, Queens.

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7:50 a.m.

Pennsylvania utility companies say more than 110,000 customers are without power following the state’s second major snowstorm in less than a week.

More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania Wednesday, causing treacherous travel in some areas. Many schools and businesses remained closed Thursday or were holding delayed openings.

The most outages are reported by Peco, which said about 55,500 customers were without service Thursday morning. About 47,000 of those customers are in the Philadelphia suburb of Bucks County.

Utility crews were also still dealing with tens of thousands of outages remaining from a weekend storm that raked the state last Friday, when high winds downed transmission lines from Erie to Philadelphia.

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7:30 a.m.

Residents across New England are waking up to cars caked in heavy wet snow, a messy commute and widespread power outages.

The National Weather Service says some areas got more than 2 feet of snow in a storm that started late Wednesday and pummeled the region through the night.

The small western Connecticut town of Warren got 28 inches of snow, while Adams in western Massachusetts received 26 inches as of 6:30 a.m. Thursday. That’s according to unofficial reports made to the weather service.

The western and central portions of both states were hardest hit.

Burrillville, Rhode Island, got 15 inches.

Connecticut’s two major utilities were reporting more than 125,000 power outages Thursday morning. Massachusetts utilities reported more than 320,000 outages and New Hampshire had about 50,000.

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This item has been corrected to show that Massachusetts had more than 320,000 outages Thursday morning, not 45,000.

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7:30 a.m.

Snowfall amounts varied wildly in the metropolitan New York City area.

National Weather Service meteorologist Adrienne Leptich says the “big winner” was New Fairfield, Connecticut, with a whopping 26.8 inches.

Some other areas north and west of the city also got two feet or more.

Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, got 24 inches.

In New York’s Rockland County, Sloatsburg got 26 inches.

Mahopac, in Putnam County, got 18.8 inches.

On Long Island, she says the sky dumped “buckets” of snow from around 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The accumulations ranged from around 3 to 9 inches.

Leptich says New York City “wasn’t as exciting.” The biggest reported accumulation was 4.7 inches in Little Neck, Queens.

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6:55 a.m.

Hundreds of thousands of utility customers are without power in New Jersey following a second major storm in less than a week.

More than 2 feet of snow fell in parts of northern Jersey on Wednesday, while some central areas had a foot or more of accumulation. Many schools and businesses remained closed Thursday as the cleanup continued.

The state’s major utilities reported more than 247,000 customers without power Thursday morning. Some customers have been without service since last Friday’s destructive nor’easter.

Travel remains treacherous in many areas, and residents were being urged to avoid travel, if possible.

New Jersey Transit had resumed bus service and most of its train service was running on a regular schedule Thursday. The agency continued to cross-honor tickets.

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12:15 a.m.

The second major storm in less than a week is moving up the East Coast, dumping heavy snow and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses from Pennsylvania to New England.

Some places saw more than 2 feet of snow by late Wednesday. Montville, New Jersey, got more than 26 inches. North Adams, Massachusetts, registered 24 inches and Sloatsburg, New York, got 26 inches.

Major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. Philadelphia International Airport recorded about 6 inches, while New York City’s Central Park saw less than 3 inches.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through Thursday for most of New England as the storm continues to make its way through.